The Confessions of X has won the 2017 Christianity Today Book of the Year Award in the category of fiction. The citation reads as follows:

“In this gripping, beautifully written historical novel, Wolfe brings the ancient city of Carthage to life, immersing readers in the experiences that shaped the theology of Augustine of Hippo. In her deftly told and well-researched story, the unnamed woman whom Augustine loved and lived with for 13 years rises from the footnotes of history to become a dynamic, fully-fleshed character. Their relationship shows us an achingly real love, heartrending self-sacrifice, and the way that beliefs are shaped by experiences in the beautiful and terrible world.” —Amy Peterson, writer and assistant director of honors programming, Taylor University

This is Suzanne’s second CT book award. Her previous novel, Unveiling, won the runner-up fiction award in 2005.

My (admittedly biased) friend and colleague from Seattle Pacific University, Jeffrey Overstreet, has launched a new series on his blog in which he looks at the first chapter of a book. The series is called “To Read or Not to Read.”

And he chose The Confessions of X for his inaugural post in the series. I’m grateful for his extremely thoughtful and nuanced reading of my work.

My book launch was held on February 6 at Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle’s leading independent bookstore. There was a marvelous crowd, including new and old friends, colleagues, and current and former students.

Welcome to the website of Suzanne M. Wolfe, author of The Confessions of X, just out fromHarperCollins/Nelson. Click on the drop-down menu to navigate to various pages on this site. Like Suzanne’s author page on Facebook here. Order the book here.

All of the header photos on this site relate in some way to the historical setting of The Confessions of X. Here are some short explanations, in order, of the photos below.

The double portrait of a man and a woman is a fresco from Pompeii, circa 75 A.D. They are shown holding a stylus, wax tablets, and papyrus, all writing-related tools. Though this painting is from well before the novel’s time period, it makes me think of Augustine and X.

The street corner is from the ancient site of Carthage in modern-day Tunisia. I walked through the ruins of Carthage on a trip I took with my husband in 2008 as part of my research for The Confessions of X. It’s not hard to imagine Augustine and X living in a neighborhood like this.

The ancient ruined temple is a photograph my husband took on the 2008 trip. It’s of the remarkably well-preserved Roman town of Dougga in Tunisia, southwest of ancient Carthage, but very much in St. Augustine’s “territory” when he was bishop of Hippo Regius.

The courtyard is another photo from our trip to Tunisia, from one of the well-preserved villas on the hill overlooking the ancient port of Carthage, one of the main settings in the novel. This is the sort of villa that I envisioned in the novel as belonging to the character of Nebridius.

In the book, X’s father is an itinerant mosaic artist. North Africa was famous for the quality and quantity of mosaic work, which the desert climate has preserved to a remarkable extent.